A lifelong musician, Catarina understands how patience, discipline and creativity can produce pitch-perfect results in and out of court.
Catarina collaborates with clients to find the optimal solution to their legal challenges. She has deep experience assisting clients embroiled in disputes concerning equal rights, discrimination, and retaliation claims at both the state and federal level. As a litigator, Catarina is fierce defender of her clients’ legal rights and is skilled at using all legal defenses available to assist clients at all stages of litigation.
She also enjoys working with clients well before litigation erupts in order to develop employment practices and workplace conditions that comply with all applicable laws. Her work extends into a number of areas adjacent to employment law, including contract drafting, the employment aspects of corporate transactions, internal investigations, employee handbook drafting and reviews, and emerging areas—such as diversity and political expression in the workplace—that impact the evolving marketplace for talent.
Catarina also works on the firm’s Higher Education team, assisting clients with extensive employment, student conduct, and institutional nondiscrimination efforts. This includes NCAA compliance and investigations into Title IX and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act claims, as well as other federal civil rights statutes and regulations. Catarina has worked with the firm’s major clients from the beginning of her career. As a diverse professional herself, Catarina also brings a unique perspective to the discrimination claims she works on: her understanding of cultural considerations fosters respect between parties and often leads to a quicker resolution.